'We need to talk, Willow.' Xander directed the telepathic thought at the Willow cat.

'What about?' She thought back.

'Ground rules and I expect you to abide by them. This is my home and I'm giving you a place to live and have sworn to take care of you. Cordelia will be having her own conversation with you about the rules she expects you to follow in her home.'

'Fine, go ahead. And if you expect me to use a litter box, you're crazy!'

'Just don't make messes, Willow. You're not a normal cat, which is why I expect certain behavior from you. Chiefly you will treat Cordelia with respect. And if she and I get to a point in our relationship where we want alone time, it's our business, not yours and you will keep your nose out of it.'

'I still don't understand what you see in her, Xander. She's made my life Hell for years!'

'It was never nearly as bad as you like to act like it was, Willow. She made a few comments once in awhile, mostly about your clothes or called you a nerd, that was it. Hell, Larry did worse when he bullied me and let's not forget Rodney Munson beating me up repeatedly. You've never experienced anything close to that but you act like Cordelia treated you like Tony and Jessica treated me. She didn't. And don't forget, you always found a way to strike back and your way of striking back was often way worse than what she'd said or done. For instance, tricking her into deleting her assignment just because she agreed with Harmony that Buffy must be in a gang because of the way she was behaving. She was entitled to her opinion, however wrong it was and yeah, she shouldn't have been gossiping, but you just made things worse and it was unnecessary. You'd already done the good friend bit and stood up for Buffy, nothing more was needed. She told you to butt out of their conversation and you tricked her. Overkill, Willow.'

'Fine, you made your point. You guys have been dating for over a month now, why hasn't she broken up with you? She usually only dates a guy once or twice and then moves on.'

'That isn't what she does, Willow. It only takes her one or two dates to decide if a guy is worth her time. She's only ever thought two guys warranted more than two dates. Kevin, the guy she was dating last year, the one the Master's minions killed and me. Some how she's decided I'm worth spending time with, getting to know. Maybe even learning to care about. And I like her too and want to find out if we could build something together.'

'And Buffy? Do you still have a crush on her?'

'Kinda, but I'm not sure how much of it is an actual crush.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean as beautiful as she is, she's not the kind of girl I usually go for. Physically, I mean. Or personality wise. I like Cordy's snarky, blunt tactlessness. And frankly, Buffy's interest in Angel was disgusting. She might be able to overlook the whole walking corpse with a demon in it, but I hated vampires before she got interested in him. Than he turned out to be a coward on top of being a vampire and she's still interested in him. I just don't get what there is to be interested about. I've said it before, at the end of the day, he's still a vampire. Unless there's a way to change that, it's always going to be gross that she's interested in him.'

'If she got interested in someone from one of the other breeds of vampires?'

'Her choice and from what I understand, they're not walking corpses with demons in them, so not the same thing. But if they're feeding on humans than they're the enemy and we need to protect ourselves from them. If they can prove that they're not feeding on humans and she's happy, then I'll try to be happy for her. It's the whole walking corpse with a demon and feeding on humans parts that bugs me. You don't have to be happy for me, Willow. But you do have to respect my right to choose for myself, just like I have to respect Buffy's right to choose for herself. No one has to like someone else's choices, just respect them.'

'Again, you've made your point. I'll stay out of your way when she's visiting and I won't leave mice in her sock drawer.'

'You weren't actually considering doing that, were you?'

'...no.'

'Willow!'

'Fine, on the other hand, I find it very disgusting intellectually that I actually seem to crave them now.'

'I so did not need to know that, Willow!' Xander felt decidedly green and nauseous at that thought. He got up and pulled a long white candle out of a drawer and set it on the table in front of his couch.

'What are you doing, Xander?'

'A Magic exercise Ms. Calender taught me. Making fire is easy for me. Controlling it is something else. The point of this exercise is to light the wick and nothing else. First time I tried it, I melted the candle.' Xander concentrated on the wick, until it was the only thing in his vision. He carefully allowed a small amount of personal energy out of himself and than smiled in satisfaction when the wick ignited. 'I'm improving.'

'Yeah, you are.' Willow kept the resentful feeling in her thought to herself instead of broadcasting it to Xander.